


Pandora's Box

by PerfectlyHopeless



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Gen, Gifts from Alec, Pandora Ryder, Personal Backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 15:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11854464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerfectlyHopeless/pseuds/PerfectlyHopeless
Summary: Pandora Ryder didn't bring much to Andromeda.





	Pandora's Box

**Author's Note:**

> I created Pandora out of a desire to try playing ME: Andromeda on my PC with an Xbox controller. Then I got attached dammit. Her name came first and I've been building her ever since. Just a bit of some personal background and a bit of personal canon.

* * *

 

She sat backwards on her bed, datapad beside her as she hugged her knees, staring out at the endless expanse of stars and solar dust and scourge. Somewhere far behind her was her old home, and with luck her new home was waiting for her here among these new stars.

Everything had happened all at once, Pandora not given nearly enough time to process. From Habitat 7 to the Nexus to Eos. Everything happened so suddenly. Her brother's coma, her father's death, her own death and being made the human Pathfinder. She'd hardly had five minutes to herself, the closest she got Vetra’s little tour of the Tempest. Now she sat on her bed in the Pathfinder's quarters, a room meant for her father, watching the universe turn about her in silence.

Her hazel eyes were out of focus as she looked out the wide window, her mind adrift elsewhere as she flopped back on the bed and closed her eyes. She'd mourned her father passively as they traveled, the shock hitting her first after she'd woken up in SAM node and lingering in the back of her mind. The anger at his death came as she was fighting Remnant on Eos, letting a little off her frustration out with every headshot she made to a Kett. But using her sniper rifle only reminded her of what she lost.

She and her brother had grown up on the Citadel before moving to Earth as teens, both of them joining the Alliance at eighteen years old and going through basic training. Pandora joined a security team protecting archaeologists on a Prothean dig site, while Scott joined a security team keeping watch of the Arcturus relay. Both had accepted where they were in life, though she couldn't help but daydream and want something more.

Her father had never been very present when they were growing up, busy with the Alliance and his personal projects. But he made up for the absence when he was there. They took little trips when he was with them, Pandora looking up to her father throughout it all. Her fondest memory of him was the first time he taught her to use a sniper rifle when she turned sixteen, helping her stay steady and encouraging her when she felt inadequate. Scott was never quite as interested, far more drawn to pistols and tech that he used in tandem with his biotics. Alec was always happy to support them and all of their decisions, even the poorly made ones, as though feeling it would be inappropriate to do anything less. Their mother would just shake her head and sigh when he did this.

While he was rarely present, the moments they got with him were gifts.

Pandora snapped back into focus, her floating thoughts coming back down to the ground as she remembered the crate she had tucked under her bed. The last time she'd been on the Nexus she retrieved the crate of belongings that she'd brought with her from the Milky Way. She lay down on her belly, reaching down for it and pulling it out. It wasn't very heavy, something she noted as she brought it up on the bed and sat it in front of her. Her eyes scanned the metal case and the Andromeda Initiative logo painted on the top, the footlocker sized box well preserved for six hundred years in the empty vacuum that had been the cargo hold of the Hyperion.

She licked at her dry lips, swallowing a bit of anxiety as she ran her hand over the surface. It’d been a long time since she’d last seen the inside. Tucking back strands of her pink hair, she turned the case so the latch faced her. Pandora pressed her thumbs against the biometric scanners, a little chirp sounding as it recognized her as the owner, The latch popped open, a little hiss sounding as it released the seals. She found her heart pounding as she lifted the lid, then relaxed as she looked through the contents.

A black hoodie with dark red roses was the first thing she saw, an old thing she’d stolen from her first girlfriend when she was still a teenager. Aside from that were some t-shirts, a couple fantasy novels, and hiding in the corner beneath it all was a silver box about the size of her hand with her initials, P.J.R, etched on the lid in a pretty script font.

Her father had given the box to her as a gift not long after she’d gone through basic with the Alliance. A little play on her name, Pandora kept the box closed even as the years passed, resisting the temptation to see what was inside. Now that he was gone she found herself wondering what the point of keeping it shut was. Boxes were made to hold things. Whatever was inside, he’d have to have known that someday she would open it.

Pandora set the crate back on the floor, sitting back against her pillows and holding the little box in her hands. She bit at the inside of her cheek for a moment, debating internally while her thumb fingered with the little metal clasp that had sat for over six hundred years. With a final breath she unlocked it and opened up the lid, her hazel eyes going wide at the sight.

In the middle was a small projector that created a small and rotating image of the Milky Way galaxy, her old home, while a gentle lullaby played from the small speaker. Her heart seemed to stop in her chest as she watched the little holo, then her eyes focused on the inside of the lid.

“For your insatiable curiosity,” the top line read in what appeared to be Alec’s handwriting, the bottom line reading simply, “Love, Dad”. Pandora’s mouth fell open as she read it over and over again, finally setting the box down in her lap and letting the lullaby continue to play on repeat as she sobbed into her hands.

She couldn’t quite remember much of the moments before she’d died. The poisonous atmosphere of Habitat 7 had quickly clouded her mind as it choked the life from her. The last thing she remembered was her father putting his helmet on her head, him smiling at her reassuringly as she passed out. No proper last words were spoken. No chance to say good-bye. But this little gift, this box that she’d been given ever so long ago, brought about a bit of peace she hadn’t realized she’d been needing. Instead of something she could hardly even remember, she had these last words to remember him by, from the moments where it really mattered.

Pandora didn’t know for how long she cried, only knowing that her throat was tight and her eyes were swollen when she finally began to calm down. She swallowed hard and moved the little box to her bedside table, leaving the lid open so that it would continue to play. A bittersweet smile touched her lips as she remotely turned out the lights, cuddling up with a pillow and watching the slowly turning holo of her old galaxy as she gradually fell asleep.

Alec Ryder had never been very present in his children’s lives, but the moments he gave them were precious gifts.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please consider leaving a comment, constructive criticism is always welcome ^_^


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